The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is a non-departmental public body funded by the UK Treasury, that the UK government established to provide independent economic forecasts and independent analysis of the public finances. It was formally created in May 2010 following the general election (although it had previously been constituted in shadow form by the Conservative party opposition in December 2009) and was placed on a statutory footing by the Budget Responsibility and National Audit Act 2011. It is one of a growing number of official independent fiscal watchdogs around the world. Richard Hughes, former Director of Fiscal Policy at HM Treasury, has been head since October 2020. Functions The UK government created the OBR in 2010 with the goal of offering independent and authoritative analysis of the UK's public finances. To that end it produces two 5-year-ahead forecasts for the economy and the public finances each year, alongside the Budget and Spring Statements. In its role in providing independent analysis the OBR has four main duties: Forecasts of the economy and public finances The OBR produces five-year forecasts for the economy and public finances twice a year. The forecasts accompany the Chancellor's Budget Statement and his Spring Statement and they incorporate the impact of any tax and spending measures announced by the Chancellor. Details of the forecasts are set out in the Economic and fiscal outlook (EFO) publications. The annual Forecast evaluation report (FER) published each autumn, examines how the EFO forecasts compare to subsequent outturns. The OBR has published material describing its approach to forecasting the economy and public finances, and the macroeconomic model it uses. Evaluation of the Government’s performance against its fiscal targets The OBR uses its public finance forecasts to assess the Government's performance against its fiscal targets. The Government has set itself two medium-term fiscal targets: first, a fiscal mandate for the cyclically-adjusted current budget to be below 2 per cent of GDP by 2020-21, and second, a supplementary target to have public sector net debt falling as a share of GDP in 2020-21. In the Economic and fiscal outlook, the OBR assesses whether the Government has a greater than 50 per cent probability of hitting these targets under current policy. Given the uncertainty inherent in all fiscal forecasts, the OBR also tests how robust this judgement is by using historical evidence, sensitivity analysis and alternative scenarios. Scrutiny of the Government’s policy costings The